The Californian museum, attached to the Getty Museum, says staff and collection are safe, after a forest fire spread to its grounds which house works from ancient Rome.
A violent fire ravaged the Pasific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles on Tuesday, January 7, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate the hills overlooking the City of Angels. Among the survivors were employees of the Getty villa museum, also victims of this new tragedy, which has already ravaged more than 1,200 hectares of land in Angers.
According to a press release published on the morning of Wednesday January 8, « no employees were injured ». « Museum galleries and library archives were protected from smoke by state-of-the-art ventilation systems »indicates the museum. Adding that « the double-walled construction of the galleries also offers considerable protection to the collections ».
The collection spared by the flames
Fortunately, the Getty Villa being regularly closed on Tuesdays, no visitors were present when the flames penetrated the site which is one of the two main places of the Getty Museum, one of the largest contemporary art museums in Los Angeles . The general president of the private cultural institution J. Paul Getty Trust, Katherine E. Fleming, clarified in another press release that the site – preserving antiquities from Greece and Rome – was « quickly closed ».
“Irrigation was immediately implemented across the entire site on Tuesday morning »explains Getty, adding that non-rescue personnel were barred from entering the museum during the day. The tourist spot claimed on its social networks that only « certain trees and vegetation » of the Getty villa were burned, while the entire collection was spared by the flames.
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Closed until January 13
Katherine E. Fleming wanted to thank the firefighters of Los Angeles and its surrounding counties for « their tireless work to ensure the safety of the Villa and its employees, as well as the presence of fire trucks on site throughout the day ». The museum indicated on X that its doors will be closed until January 13 « as a precaution and so that surrounding roads are clear », while 30,000 people are under evacuation order.
